I really don't think there is anything set in stone. You can make any itinerary you and FI are comfortable with and that your budget allows. Some people do a welcome dinner which includes all the guests attending. Its a nice way for everyone to mingle and get acquainted before the wedding. (welcome BBQ, welcome beach bonfire, welcome sunset cruise) you can make it as formal or as casual as you like. There is the rehearsal dinner. You can plan activities throughout the day (like jetskiing or other things) or you can let your guests occupy themselves as they see fit. Its really up to you.

We only planned 2 things... a sailing trip we took our guests on and the wedding. The rest of the time we let our guests vacation! Part of the beauty of a resort wedding is that everyone can hang out ...if they want... or do their own thing. You're the bride, not the entertainment staff!!! Most resorts have so muh going on, that entertainment takes care of itself.

We took time every evening to dine with different guests. It is too hard to cordinate a large dinner every night. This allowed us to have more intimate conversation and spend time with everyone.

How many guests are you having? That might help you decide what to do and what to eliminate.

We are only having 8 guests so we don't need to have a formal welcome dinner. Also, we're all arriving on New Years Eve so we kind of have an "event" already planned for us at the resort! We also decided to forgo the rehearsal dinner, as everyone who would normally take part is essentially all of our guests. I felt like it would be kind of of redundant to essentially have the wedding the day before.

We're not planning any formal activities and just letting everyone fly by the seat of their pants. If we had more time before the actual wedding, I would have liked to arrange a private dinner cruise or something like that.

We only planned 2 things... a sailing trip we took our guests on and the wedding. The rest of the time we let our guests vacation! Part of the beauty of a resort wedding is that everyone can hang out ...if they want... or do their own thing. You're the bride, not the entertainment staff!!! Most resorts have so muh going on, that entertainment takes care of itself.

We took time every evening to dine with different guests. It is too hard to cordinate a large dinner every night. This allowed us to have more intimate conversation and spend time with everyone.

I love that you had your week like that. I want our week to be just as relaxed and to not have to feel that we have to be with everyone all the time so that each person gets a vacation out of that week and we can still slip away and do our own thing if we want. Thanks so much for posting that.

I think that part of having a destination wedding is that you are getting away from the traditional wedding "rules" and you have a lot more flexibility with planning. If you were having a traditional wedding at home people would think you're crazy for not doing a rehearsal dinner...but if you are doing a DW, there are many brides who skip the rehearsal, especially if they are having a small wedding.

We have a small group - less than 10 people - and aren't doing a rehearsal or welcome dinner. I think since we are skipping those we may schedule and pay for some type of excusrion/sightseeing tour or something to that effect instead. But the bottom line is that whatever you want to plan is going to be fine